


Fireflies

by Nisachan666



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Special Interest, autistic headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 13:52:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4708331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nisachan666/pseuds/Nisachan666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kiba doesn't understand Shino's love of bugs, but he can see himself starting to like it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fireflies

Kiba doesn't really get bugs. They're hard and brittle, far too fragile to survive long in his extended company. They aren't the kind of creatures that you can hug and make a fuss of, unlike dogs. And, unless you have way too much time on your hands and an extensive notation of their individual idiosyncrasies, they don't have as much of a personality as dogs do. That's before you even take into consideration the whole flea business. 

Despite this, he finds himself knowing more and more about them as each day goes by. He can identify where their thorax is, where each segment rounds off. He knows when to specify that this one is an arachnid and not an insect, because Shino hates when he gets the two mixed up. Kiba might admit that he is even beginning to appreciate the way that the kikaichu's wing casings have a deep green sheen to them, that they're not just flat black as he had first assumed. And he would never tell Shino, but he's started picking out specific species on his walks out; never the names, but he has a pretty good idea of how the local bug population is made up by sight. 

If his past self had been told that this is how having a crush would affect him, he would have laughed until he cried. But there's no way that he can listen to Shino talk about his damn beetles and not find himself drawn in. Don't think wrong, the subject matter still holds no interest for him. But the way that Shino actually relaxes when he talks, hands out of his pockets and punctuating his speech with gestures, sometimes even smiling slightly. It's a small thing, but beautiful in its own way. 

It's only that summer evening when they decided to stay up all night that Kiba realises just how much he has come to treasure this small intimacy. They've wandered as far into the woods as they dare during the middle of the night, and in the clearing there are almost enough fireflies to make it as clear as day. Shino moves into the middle of the clearing and they flock to him. He lets them swarm around him, a few alighting on his outstretched hands and upturned face. It's the most content that Kiba has ever seen him, and the moment has him frozen, for once lost for words. It's a moment that he wants to freeze in time, as much for the imagery as for that possessive little feeling brought on by that knowledge that only he has seen this. But time must continue, and Shino only opens his eyes to the feel of chapped lips against his. 

For a few seconds, there is a perfect quiet moment. 

**Author's Note:**

> Because if Shino isn't autistic as all hell, I will find a hat and eat it. Just a fic about second-hand special interests: things you don't really get yourself, but you know so much about because of someone else that it might as well be your special interest too.


End file.
